Manchester United, meanwhile, will have experienced midfield trio Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick available for Sunday's Barclays Premier League game at Newcastle.

Giggs and Carrick missed the Champions League trip to Cluj on Tuesday through illness while Scholes was rested.

Defender Jonny Evans has also recovered from a dead leg and could feature but Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Vidic and Phil Jones are not yet ready to return.

Match Notes Few teams are able to beat Manchester United at home two seasons running, but Newcastle are dangerous opposition for Sir Alex Ferguson’s faltering side.

They produced their best performance of the season to beat Bordeaux 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday night and while a repeat of their 3-0 triumph last season might be beyond them, United will have to be at their very best on Tyneside to take something home with them.

Given Newcastle’s injury problems in defence, they will look to attack from the start.

It could be a classic.

Betting: Home 14-5, Away 19-20, Draw 5-2.

Stat of the game: Manchester United have lost two of their opening six games for the first time in 10 years.